Aids, Adaptations and Adjustments

Written by Krys Catterall

Recently you may have seen some viral videos of people with disabilities using “normal” products in inventive ways. Or trying to normalise some aids into the mainstream.

What if I was to tell you, that there is already an aid out there that is normalised? That you see every single day and don’t think of as an aid? What do you think it is?

Glasses! Did you think of it? No? Did you think about the fact that shoes are an aid? They stop us hurting our feet and help us grip the floor! Clothes are an aid, they help us keep a comfortable temperature in our environment and prevent infections. Why do we consider it’s not an aid for people to wear glasses, but everything from walking sticks, wheelchairs, stoma bags, oxygen tanks to assistance dogs are?

Want to be able to write a blog whilst making dinner? Transcription software will help with that! Want to order something from a website but you have a crying baby in your hands? Voice Control software can help you do that. So an aid or adaptation can easily become mainstream if it’s useful to us. Heck even a search engine is an aid, it helps us find the information we are looking for, and not need to memorise everything we need to go about our lives!

There are an amazing array of adaptions and aids that can be used, from a screen reader, to completely redesigning your house to fit you (watch this for a light hearted look at a house designed for little people).

With 35% of the UK workforce having declared they have a disability according to the most recent census, therefore aids and adaptations are going to become more and more visible, and along with that will come some benefits.

Sadly only 52% of these people with disabilities, who consider themselves able to work, have a job. Why is that? Could it be that our inability to consider it a norm to require an aid has prevented us from making our applicants feel safe?

As a staunch supporter of helping people with disabilities return to work, I have found that the biggest hurdle, surprisingly, isn’t the disability itself. It’s the confidence to be your authentic self, to own that you do have different limits, and to fight for the aids, adaptations and reasonable adjustments you need to succeed. To know you will be supported by not just your line manager, but also your team members.

Then a bit more…morbidly… 45% of us over the state pension age will develop a disability, and that figure grows to 58% in the over 80 category. So you may not have a disability now, but how will you feel about having being obtuse to the need for accessibility and adjustments when you come to need them?

As another little factoid: Did you know that a one third of people who use wheelchairs can actually stand up, and some can walk a little? Maybe not for long — but please stop looking at us like we’ve just done a miracle or that we’re just asking for sympathy by using the chair? I can only stand for about 2 mins — imagine trying to stand in a queue when your entire lower body is on fire…that’s what standing does to me! For others it could sap the last bit of energy they have to be able to even leave the house and get some milk.

“There is no greater disability in society than the inability to see a person as more.” — Robert M. Hensel

Perhaps, as a community as a whole, something we can consider is why we perceive some things as aids and other things as “normal”. If so many people have disabilities, why don’t we see it reflected in our every day lives?Could we, maybe, start to look at the world with a different perspective? Where can we improve our teams, our companies and our environments to make the world a more accepting and inclusive environment for all people?